Chapter 4: Part 1 of the Plan
The next day was Saturday. The girls were up early helping with the morning chores on Harmony Ranch. Sam and Jen hadn't stayed up late the night before. They had talked about what had happened at the mall and then had gone to bed. After the girls finished their morning chores they went back into Jen's bedroom. Jen started writing out the final plans that Sam and Quinn would follow for Sam to get Jake to notice her. Sam didn't really see why they had to write it down, but Jen said it would help them stay organized and on track.
The first couple of days at school Sam would hang out with Quinn, and flirt with him. They would also hold hands in between classes and make sure that Jake saw them. After a couple of days of this Quinn would ask Sam to be his date for the Valentine's Dance. Then after he asked her to be his date for the dance she would act like a romantic school girl around Quinn. At the dance Matt Wheattles would surprise Kate, but find her dancing with Jake. Then Kate would have an interesting time explaining to Matt what she was doing with Jake. Sam smiled as she thought about the plan. She couldn't wait for the dance.
"Do you think we're missing anything?" asked Sam
"I don't think so." Jen looked over what she had just written. "This is more like a guideline anyway. We don't exactly know how we everybody is going to react in these situations, but I think we have estimated pretty good on the reactions though."
Sam was staring at her friend and wondering how she could make something so simple sound scientific. Then all of a sudden she heard a car horn honk from outside. Sam got up and looked out of Jen's bedroom window. Gram was waiting for her in the car.
"That's Gram. I've got to go." Sam started throwing the stuff she had brought along with her into her duffle bag. Jen started helping her and within a few minutes they had all of Sam's stuff in the duffle bag. Jen hugged her friend goodbye, and then Sam went to get into Gram's car.
On the ride home Gram asked Sam how her sleepover was. Sam gave Gram a vague overview and purposely left out the parts of her trying to get Jake to notice her. She didn't like talking about boys with Gram or family. But then again does any girl like talking about whom they like with their family?
When they got home Sam had to do her own chores. Nobody had done them for her. Her dad said that doing her chores helped her become stronger and helped her realize that hard work was good for her. So she had to muck out the stalls and then put clean fresh straw down. While Sam was working on cleaning the stalls she let her mind wander back to last night. She still couldn't get the picture of Kate Sanley kissing Matt Wheattles out of her mind. If she already had a boyfriend, then what was she doing with Jake? Sam wanted to tell Jake that Kate was cheating on him, but knew from past experience that he would just get mad and then wouldn't talk to her for awhile. The last thing Sam wanted was for the two of them not talking to each other. That's why she pretended to like Kate in the first place when she was around Jake. She missed being able to tell Jake everything like they used to. When they were little she would always confide in him. But now that they were older things became more complicated and she couldn't tell him everything. At least she had Jen now and she could always count on Jen to be there when she needed someone to talk to, but it still wasn't the same as it used to be with Jake.
The rest of the weekend went by without anything interesting happening. On Monday morning Gram dropped Sam off at the bus stop. Jen was already there waiting. Sam walked over to her and Jen immediately started talking.
"So are you ready to start flirting with Quinn today?" Jen asked
"I'm ready as I can be," replied Sam. "But what if something goes wrong?"
"Nothing is going to go wrong. You flirt with Quinn and Jake starts getting jealous. You worry way too much Sam."
"I don't worry too much," replied Sam with a twinkle in her eye. "I usually worry because there's a reason too. But what if Jake ends up staying with Kate or Jake actually thinks I'm in love with his brother?" Sam said all this rather fast and frantically.
"Jake wouldn't stay with a girl who cheated on him Sam," said Jen in a very serious voice. "If he thinks you love his brother, that's when you tell him that you don't. You tell Jake that you only have feelings for him and not his brother. But for today you pretend you only have eyes for Quinn. It's all rather simple if you ask me."
Sam stared at her best friend and wondered how she could have so much confidence with a plan that could fall apart at anytime. Sam wondered if Jen was in her shoes if she would be feeling as confident as she was right now. The school bus came down the road and stopped at the bus stop. The two girls got on and sat down in their usual seat which was in the back of the bus.
Once they got to school they headed for their lockers right away. Sam threw her coat into her locker and grabbed her history book. Jen did the same, but grabbed more books than Sam and then threw them in her backpack.
"Hey guys," Quinn said as he came up to them.
"Hi Quinn," they both responded at the same time.
"Ready to start making Jake jealous?" asked Quinn
"Definitely!" said Sam enthusiastically. "Is Jake here yet?"
"Yeah," said Quinn looking over his shoulder. "He's over at his locker saying good morning to cheating Kate."
"You guys remember everything I told you about this stage of the plan?" asked Jen.
"Yes," responded Sam and Quinn in the same flat toneless voice. Jen had gone over this stage of the plan so many times they both could have done it in their sleep.
"Ready?" asked Quinn while extending his hand for Sam to take.
"Yup." Answered Sam and took Quinn's hand.
The two started walking down the main hallway in the school. People started mumbling as they passed people because it was a new couple and for some reason in high school everybody wants to know who's going out with whom. Finally the mumbling started to quiet down and Sam started feeling confident. She could walk down these halls and pretend that she was in love with the boy who was holding her hand. She would endure all the mumbling and pointing if it meant that she would one day be doing this same thing with the boy of her dreams.
Sam was once again lost in her own thoughts when she realized that Jake's locker was just ahead. Jake was at his locker saying good morning to Kate Sanley. His idea of saying good morning though was kissing her passionately. Sam wanted to punch Kate so bad right then and there, but managed to act cool. As she and Quinn passed them Jake stopped kissing Kate and just stared stupidly at his brother and Sam. Jake made eye contact with Sam, but Sam quickly looked away. She thought she saw an unnamed emotion in his eyes, but couldn't place it. As they passed Sam wanted to look behind her and see how Jake was reacting, but she didn't. She was being an actress and she couldn't show her real feelings. She had to pretend that she only had eyes for Quinn, like Jen had said earlier.
Jake's P.O.V
Jake was kissing his girlfriend Kate Sanley as a way of saying good morning. All the people by their lockers were mumbling about something but Jake wasn't paying attention to what they were saying. It was probably just boring high school gossip. All of a sudden a couple started walking down the hallway. As the couple got close Jake recognized his brother and Sam. He stopped kissing Kate and stared stupidly at Sam. When had Sam started going out with his brother and why? Kate was saying something, but Jake wasn't paying attention to a word she was saying. All Jake could do was stare at Sam and his brother as they walked down the hallway hand in hand. An emotion like jealousy came over Jake. But that was impossible. He didn't like Sam as more than just a friend right? Jake then remembered that he had a girlfriend and she was staring at him. He started talking to her, but the jealous feeling of seeing Sam with his brother didn't go away.
Normal P.O.V
Quinn dropped Sam off at her first hour class which was English. She said a quick goodbye to Quinn and then found her seat. A couple of minutes later Jen came in and sat down next to Sam.
"You should have seen Jake's face Sam!" Jen exclaimed loudly. "He was totally oblivious to everything around him except for kissing Kate and then when you guys walked down the hall it was like he was hit with something. After you guys were gone he was still staring down the hallway." The bell rang and their teacher Mrs. Tabson came in and Jen and Sam had to stop talking and pay attention to the lesson. They made plans to meet up at lunch.
Please review. Let me know if you like it or hate it. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. Also at the dance I need some ideas for songs that should be played.
Westerncowgirl